Cincinnati 28, Syracuse 7: Cincy Scores Almost As Many Points As SU Students Attended

by Sean Keeley on Oct 31, 2009 10:56 PM EDT

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Syracuse, NY (Sports Network) - Zach Collaros threw for 295 yards and four touchdowns in place of Tony Pike, as fifth-ranked Cincinnati earned a 28-7 win over Syracuse in a Big East matchup at the Carrier Dome.

Collaros completed 22-of-28 passes, while Armon Binns had five grabs for 138 yards a a pair of scores for Cincinnati (8-0, 4-0 Big East), which was able to build off a convincing 41-10 victory over Louisville last weekend. The Bearcats, who were without Pike for a second straight game while he recuperates from left forearm surgery, are off to their best start since 1954.

Kazeem Alli and Adrien Robinson also pulled in a touchdown catch apiece for Cincinnati, which extended its winning streak to 14-straight regular-season games dating back to last season.

"Just a recap of the game, obviously we knew all week coming in here that if we did not match the level of intensity that Syracuse plays with this year, then we'd be in trouble, Cincinnati head coach Brian Kelly said. "I think Doug (Marrone) has done a terrific job of teaching his football players to play hard. That was my concern all week. We banged that drum as hard as we could. I thought we came in and it was business-like in a sense. We got our job done and we want to get the heck out of here."

Greg Paulus completed 12-of-17 throws for 85 yards with a TD and an interception for Syracuse (3-5, 0-3), which defeated Akron, 28-14, last weekend in non-conference play. The Orange have dropped three of their last four. Delone Carter rushed for 50 yards on 19 touches, but fumbled late in the third quarter with the Orange in the red zone. Cody Catalina had a pair of catches for 26 yards and a touchdown catch.

"(We had) A lot of opportunities during the game," Syracuse head coach Marrone said. "We went down in the red zone and turned the ball over twice. At the end of the day, we're not a good enough football team to not execute at a very high level and stay in a game or be able to win a game against the No. 5 team in the country. We still have a lot of work to do as far as our procedures and not giving up turnovers, whether it's on the ground or an interception, or whether it's procedures as far as holding or jumping offside."

Mike Williams returned to the field after serving a one-game suspension last weekend against Akron for violating team rules and had four catches for 34 yards.

Cincinnati put up the first points of the game on its opening drive. Facing a 3rd-and-11 from its own 19, Collaros escaped pressure and flipped a short pass to Binns on the far side of the field and he took it the distance for an 81- yard touchdown.

The Orange answered right back on their next possession when Paulus hit a wide open Catalina in the back of the end zone for a nine-yard score with just over four minutes to play in the quarter.

Collaros fumbled a snap on a field-goal attempt early in the second period, but gathered himself and tossed a 16-yard strike to Alli in the end zone for a 14-7 Bearcats lead.

With Syracuse driving late in the second quarter and with a 1st-and-goal on the Cincinnati eight, Paulus was picked off by Drew Frey in the end zone. The Bearcats attempted to tack on three more in the closing seconds of the half, but Jake Rogers' 43-yard effort was off the mark and it remained 14-7 heading into the break.

Collaros found Binns in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard score to put the finishing touches on a seven-play, 60-yard drive early in the third quarter to make it a 21-7 game.

Carter fumbled with the Orange in the red zone at the Cincinnati seven in the later stages of the third, but the visitors were unable to capitalize on the miscue and were forced to punt.

Another Collaros TD toss, this time to Robinson with a little under 10 minutes remaining in the game made it 28-7, which would be the final points of the day.

Cincinnati will host Connecticut on November 7, while Syracuse plays at Pittsburgh next Saturday...Cincinnati improved to 6-4 over Syracuse in the all-time series, with the Bearcats winning the last five encounters, including a 30-10 decision last season...Isaiah Pead rushed for 77 yards on 16 carries for the Bearcats.

Via Sports Network

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Nice headline.

I think this game was more about Su losing then Cincy winning, not that the Bearcats played bad but this was a game in which the Orange had their chances and just couldn’t get it done, 2 red zone turnovers and failing to stop a botched FG to Touchdown play hurt us badly.

Not going to go as far as saying that the Orange would have won this game if they did convert those two turnovers into points but it sure would have been a different game.

First our pleasures die - and then Our hopes, and then our fears - and when These are dead, the debt is due, Dust claims dust - and we die too.

by Pennywise on Oct 31, 2009 11:02 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs

Got out a program from 1994

Has the attendance for Dome games from 1980-1993.

In 1980, we averaged 43,635. 7 home games. Dome opening season.

In 1981, we averaged 38,310. 6 games.

In 1982, we had three crowds of about 30,000 to open the season… finishing with an average of 35,293.

In 1983, we averaged 34,130, despite the first three crowds being less than 27,000. We finished strong that year by beating BC and WVU. In front of 77,000 fans total.

In 1984, the five home games averaged 44K.

In 1985, the six home games averaged 38.5K

In 1986, the six home games averaged 34.5K.

In 1987, 35K showed up to the season opener against Maryland. As a freshman, I was there. I had PLENTY OF ROOM. No way there was more than 30K there. Game 2, 34K for Miami. Game 3 was Penn St… always the big draw on our schedule, we hit 50k, as we did in 81, 83, and 85. Only this time we win. So 48K show up to see an undefeated SU play 1-AA Colgate. The rest is history as another 50K or so show up for the final two games that year.

We averaged 48K from 1988 to 1993. 6 home games a year.

The most fans from 1980 to 1993 in one year was 305,444 during the 7-game inaugural season. For a six-game season, the most fans was 296K in 1992… which featured Texas, Ohio St., Rutgers, Pitt, VaTech, and Miami (went 4-2).

During the span, regardless of the # of games, we were always between 204K and 304K.

Gotta figure there are roughly 30K in fans that show up to every game. The next 20K will depend on how good the team is, the opponent, and how many games there are. In 1984, we had 221K for 5 games because we were a decent team. in 1985, we had 231K for 6 games because we were mediocre.

by ezcuse on Nov 1, 2009 11:41 AM EST reply actions